Ben Reilly
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Posts posted by Ben Reilly
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I like to think I'm a glass half full person, and perhaps I'm being naive, but surely all clubs make a fair proportion of their money from ticket sales, prize money and the sale of players.Stay amateur, offer players good coaching and facilities. Sweat the asset of lesser hampden; hire out pitch and building, take loan players which would mean cash reserves will last much longer. What players would be ditched to bring in professionals? Losing rent from Hampden and adding thousands in wages does not make sense to me! How much more money could we possibly make if we go pro? More likely to loose money.
I like to think that the move away from Hampden combined with the switch to professionalism isn't just about surviving, but presents an opportunity to grow and be more successful as a club.
It wont happen over night, and may take years, but we have as much, if not more, potential than any team in league 2 to challenge higher up the leagues.
If we can attract and/or keep a higher standard of players by offering them similar money to other teams, but potentially better facilities and location, then we give ourselves a better chance of success on the pitch, which increases revenue.
With success on the pitch, and crucially with the right promotion of the club in the community, we can attract more people to attend games, which increases revenue.
People wont come out in numbers to see us play in the lowland league, but if we can create a buzz about a club that is competing well in the SPFL, and market ourselves as a local, affordable, family friendly alternative to the old firm then we give ourselves a chance of increasing the fan base/membership/revenue.
I've said before that our location gives us a big advantage over other teams both for attracting players and supporters (home and away), and the potential for a better atmosphere at our new ground can only help with that.
I'm not saying it'll be easy, and I dont have all the answers, but I do believe the opportunity is there for us to go on to greater success. I also believe that opportunity is far less likely if we remain amateur.8 -
That may well be the case, but it might not be next summer. This summer we did well to rebuild the squad with as many decent players as we did, but if 18 first team squad players leave again in May, who's to say we'll find so many good players from the lower/junior leagues again. Being able to offer players money doesn't guarantee we'll sign the best players, but it has to increase our chances.Yes but some who moved were not first team regulars and their replacements have been as good if not better!1 -
I believe players accept playing for nothing at QP as they know the facilities are good, the Glasgow location appeals to many, and they consider us (and League 2) a step on the ladder to later playing (and paid) at a higher level. IF we are in the lowland league then the location and facilities may well not be enough to persuade better players that its still worth playing for nothing on that first step when East Kilbride, Kelty etc will pay them and be challenging for promotion.A lower quality of player than is currently playing for nothing?2 -
True, and the club should be rightly proud to be a stepping stone for the careers of players who move up the divisions or onto earn international caps. I would never want us to hold back any player who has a chance to play at a higher level, but recently they have been moving to our league rivals, giving up more of their time to travel to clubs out with the Glasgow area they live and work in, to earn some more money at clubs that are playing at the same level as us with similar chances of promotion....or relegation.If players perform well, they will leave regardless of whether we are professional or not?0 -
I was told today that the correspondence should be going out in the next week or so, but no date was mentioned.Anyone know when the EGM is taking place ? There previously was talk of sometime in October to potentially get everything in place by December, if the vote goes through.0 -
I was pleased to see on a number of occasions Salim was trying to get the others fired up. We could do with a few more doing the same, and less of the finger pointing and blame game that seems to be creeping in (though its understandable, and good, that they are frustrated with the recent run of results). I thought we got a lift looked to have a bit more fight about us once Alfie came on, but the earlier mistakes left us with a lot to do. I agree that Annan's time wasting was a factor, and judging by their antics at full time, the home supports frustration was only encouraging them to do it more. Disappointing to see teams using those kind of tactics, and equally disappointing that the ref made no attempt to deal with it, but if we hadn't given them a two goal lead to sit and run the clock down on, and had made them have to play a bit to get something from the game, then it probably wouldn't have been happening in the first place. Fair play to the guy who came on up front near the end and didnt look content to run the ball into the corners, but went looking for another goal to put it out of sight, just a shame there weren't more like him in the Annan side and we could have had an entertaining game of football.That was brutal. Two individual errors cost us the goals and I'm sure that the highlights will emphasise how many chances we had to get back into the game. The goals were followed by Annan wasting time for 70 minutes; FFS, if ever a team deserved to lose a last minute winner it was them. I'd have settled for a last minute equaliser. What a mob. There were more Annan casualties than at the Battle of the Somme. Was it 9 or 10 of them who went down "injured" in the second half, with only one of them requiring treatment? What a shower of women's blouses. And the ref let it happen. QP's man of the match must be Nicky Jamieson for pulling one of them to their feet. He should have had a medal rather than a yellow card.
Certainly, Annan's trialist keeper was superb, with three top class saves, but we should have buried this mob. No excuses and no blame on the duff referee; Annan are possibly the worst side I've seen this season and we allowed them to beat us. Basis errors are costing us dear. No doubt the manager will be getting it in the neck, but how does he cope with daft mistakes? If there is any positive at all to be taken from this dire spectacle, it was that we did make a number of chances.
I still believe that we have a decent squad, but we need a bit more shouting and leadership on the park. People standing up and taking responsibility. Obviously confidence must be low and that can be sorted. Spartans next; pummel them into the dust (or the plastic resin), and let's move on.
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Dont Panic. It's all part of the presidents plan. 3 points off the bottom come the EGM so he can try and sway a few more votes for going pro to get us out of the drop zone. Once the vote is done he'll tell Roberts we're allowed to start winning again.3 points off the bottom.1 -
If anyone notices we could just blame it on a mix up with our team lines.Could we get away with a 5-5-2 then?0 -
I'm assuming this post was a joke. I have no idea how much a fine might be, but I'd guess it would be in the thousands??? If this is the case, how could anyone expect a volunteer to pay this.If what you say is true Mick, re the team lines, that is disgraceful and I think you are being too easy on him. He should resign and pay any fine.0 -
I must have missed this? Who was the youth player? What game was this?Yes, with the wrong number on his back, from the team sheet that I purchased for 10p at the game. He was listed as 15 and came on with 19 on his back. This is a total shambles and comes on the back of playing a youth player at the start of the season who was only allowed to play in youth football. Here we are as a club thinking about turning Pro and we can't get the team lines right.
Regardless, I agree that this error on Saturday is pretty embarrassing on our part, and in hindsight it's probably just as well we didnt win the game. Will be interesting to see what the repercussions will be, hopefully nothing to harsh. Let's hope we learn our lesson and dont make that mistake again.0 -
He made two good saves in a minute from our number 11 in the first half.Not sure how you can play well and get beat 3-0. Having slightly more possession of the ball doesn’t mean your actually playing well, I can’t remember Morrison having a save to make!0 -
Thanks for the info. I've certainly not got a problem with the reason for the applause, just a shame nobody told us what we were applauding.No bother Ref approached both clubs as an SPFL dispensation if clubs wished to do so no major view from either club so decission was to do so not sure how many others followed suit. For me a sportsman who endured a horrible disease.0 -
I was a little later than usual, was there an announcement about it before kick off? Nobody around me seemed to have any idea what was going on.A mark of respect for the passing of Fernando Ricksen1 -
Anyone have any idea what the minutes applause was for before kick off?
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This is exactly what concerns me. I have no idea how many members there are, or what proportion of them were at the meeting, but my worry is that there may be a significant enough number who for whatever reason haven't been at the meetings to hear the arguments put forward by the president, and will proxy vote to preserve the status quo without having the information that many non members have been given. If the show of hands last night is any thing to go by, and it's probably not the best barometer, then it will be touch and go to get 75%.The proxy votes by absent uninformed members is what worries me - not asking for information to be detailed but even an expansion of bullet points from last night.
The exit poll results of the previous meeting only had 7% against, but it also only had 58% for. (I dont remember if those percentages were much different if only taking the responses of members) It's the 35% who were open to the idea but wanted more information before committing that may sway it one way or the other.
While I'm of the opinion that we need to go for it, I do understand and respect the view of any who while warm to the idea feel they cant support it without more detailed information.
If its a no because everyone has heard both sides of the argument and made their decision based on the information presented, then fair enough. However if it's a no because 26% of members who never engaged with the process vote for the status quo, then that's a difficult one to swallow.
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A bit of bad news from the club websites match preview "Unfortunately, we go into the game with a number of injuries to content with, notably Lewis Magee who looks to have picked up a serious injury at training on Thursday night. We don’t know the extent of it at this early stage but it doesn’t look good and that’s very disappointing for both the player and ourselves given the start he has made to the season." Heres hoping he makes a speedy recovery, as he has been great so far this season.
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Right I think I have now caught up with all these posts and will stop hogging the thread.[emoji6]
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The club website says "Away fans will usually be seated in section P and Home support sit in O1 (complimentary & members area) and O2 (pay at the gate)."I always thought the padded seats were for "ticket holders" and there was no distinction made between season ticket holders and Members.
It doesnt state which one season ticket holders fall into.
It's interesting to hear others experience of being turned away from the members area. When I started coming to sporadic games years ago I came with a group of friends and family, most of whom were season ticket holders. I think one of our group, who has now passed away, was a member, but none of the others were/are. I always just followed them into the members area, and on the odd occasion that I was challenged as being the only one not showing a season ticket, those with just said I was with them and there was no issue. In recent years when I had a season ticket, along with the same group (again all non members) we have never been challenged about entering that area, in fact quite the opposite, as given that it's usually the same two ladies at the door we now exchange pleasantries most weeks. I'm not suggesting that I disbelieve others who have posted on here that they have had problems, but my experience is that we've never been challenged in what must be around 10 years, and none of us wear a suit or club tie.
I also know that some in our group who on occasion haven't had a season ticket, have entered via the main stand and have been given a paper ticket which allowed them entry to the members area.
I now sit in that area out of habit, and enjoy the comfy seats and central position, but I've never felt that anyone sitting there was looking down on those in the plastic chairs as any different.
However, I am looking forward to the hopefully more 'all together' feel at Lesser.0 -
I have to admit that I found the process a bit daunting initially, but in a bid to encourage anyone who has been put off by the application process, my own recent experience of applying for membership was actually fairly easy. I had to do a bit of chasing of the staff in the office to get the initial information and application form, but after that it was pretty straightforward. Fortunately I knew someone who is already a member and was able to ask them to be my proposer. I then just approached a member of the committee and asked them to second me, which he was very happy to do. I made sure I did all this in enogh time that my membership was approved prior to our first cup game so that I could get the full benefit of the included entry to all home games. If anyone is considering membership, I would suggest you go for it if you can afford it.Agree with all of this. To any new party, the having to be seconded and have your name on display etc. has a real foosty bowling/masonic club feel to it. The categorisation of people as "members" and "supporters" doesn't sit well with me either. We should be one unit and need to find a way of making that more of a reality if and when the new structure comes in.
The membership ticket is £50 more than a season ticket. I wouldn't be against something like scrapping it and having a flat rate season ticket, but having something, for example, like "The QP Club" on the side where fans could set up a direct debit payment into the club every month and gain benefits from it. Take away all this sign up, closed shop stuff. If someone has parted with a couple of hundred quid, they don't need an idiot like me to sign a letter to indicate that they care about the club.
It's possible that the club would make more money. I'd pay £50 more for the membership ticket just now, but would probably stick a £20 per month DD into the club if a structure similar to the one I mentioned existed. I know Motherwell and Hearts have similar setups. We're obviously not going to be raising massive amounts from such an initiative, but anything extra going into a club of our size is a bonus.0 -
I agree that there should perhaps be a reduced membership rate for concessions. As it stands the membership fee of £250 for an adult works out about the same cost as a season ticket plus home cup games. In fact if we managed a decent cup run and got drawn at home regularly there is a potential saving to be made via membership, not to mention the other benefits such as voting rights. This is my first season as a member, I was keen to become a member as I wanted to have a say in the future of the club as we move out of Hampden etc. but I had previously been concerned about the cost as given there was no info on the website/matchday programme I had no idea how much it would be. It turns out it's not as costly as I feared and I should have done it years ago. However, if someone has a concession season ticket, then the cost increase to become a member, even with cup games included, is significant, and I can see why it would be prohibitive for many. A concession membership at say £100 would perhaps encourage a few more to apply, and bring in a wee bit more to the club. I suppose some who pay full price may argue that those paying a reduced rate have the same voting rights and benefits as them, but personally it wouldn't bother me.If we reduced the cost then would a members ticket still get you into all the games?
I think there definitely should be reduced cost for membership for unemployed, OAPs, and students. Maybe set up a monthly direct debit scheme to spread the cost over a season....or if this currently exists then perhaps advertise it more. I don't see anything obvious on our website about how to become a member. There should be a link on the front page with the ability to do this online. It seems that we're now making it harder., I found out last month when proposing a new member that we now also have to send a separate letter rather than just sign the form and add a comment . Do something constructively to get younger members and then we won't need Mackay on the club committee for 100 years0 -
I have posted on these forums a number of times about the lack of information made readily available (via the website etc.) about the cost, benefits and process or becoming a member. At one of the information meetings towards the end of last season this point came up when someone asked the president to recap some information which non members in the room would not have not yet been privy too. The presidents first response was to ask why some people in the room were not yet members at which point a few folks raised that there was little to no information or encouragement from the club to do so. My point is that the club/committee are obviously keen to increase the membership as it is surely a reasonable source of income, but in that case it baffles me why they dont make more effort to promote it.If we reduced the cost then would a members ticket still get you into all the games?
I think there definitely should be reduced cost for membership for unemployed, OAPs, and students. Maybe set up a monthly direct debit scheme to spread the cost over a season....or if this currently exists then perhaps advertise it more. I don't see anything obvious on our website about how to become a member. There should be a link on the front page with the ability to do this online. It seems that we're now making it harder., I found out last month when proposing a new member that we now also have to send a separate letter rather than just sign the form and add a comment . Do something constructively to get younger members and then we won't need Mackay on the club committee for 100 years1 -
I genuinely noticed he was limping in the stand this afternoon at the end of the game. Such must be his devotion to selling the illusion.Really milking that limp by missing today as well.1 -
I decided some time ago that my preference would be to go pro based on the information I had available. Attending the meeting last week has given me more information and strengthened by belief that we should go pro to give ourselves the best chance of staying in the spfl and retaining our youth system.I haven't decided what avenue I would prefer the club to go down. The reason is that the figures and projections have not been made available.
HOWEVER, I fully understand those who want to see some figures etc. for both options before making any formal decision. I also dont think it has ever been suggested that those projections wouldn't be done before a formal decision is made. The purpose of the meeting was to gauge whether there is enough support in principle to make it worth the time, effort and money involved in putting those projections together.
I too would be very interested to see how the figures weigh up, and personally my hope is that the outcome of the poll is that there was enough of a majority in favour of going pro that the committee will now move forward with putting together more detailed information so that a formal decision can be made asap.0 -
As for Saturday, I'm quietly confident, so will go for a 2-0 win for the spiders.
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Queen's Park 2019/20
in Scottish League 2 General Chatter
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